Canadians tight-fisted about tipping, survey says

RITA TRICHURBUSINESS REPORTER, Toronto star

Canadians can be bad tippers and could use a few tips on being more generous with gratuities, says a new survey. Bank of Montreal’s tipping etiquette survey suggests Canadians are sometimes chintzy because they are often confused about when and whom to tip.

The findings, released yesterday, found that while 78 per cent of us tip the standard 15 per cent or more in restaurants, we tend to be stingy with other service sector workers who count on generous tips to boost their incomes beyond minimum wage. Pizza and food delivery workers receive the worst tips with 40 per cent of Canadians tipping less than 15 per cent. Almost half of those tippers are 25- to 44-year-olds, the survey said.

Canadians are also tight-fisted with taxi and limo drivers, with more than one-third leaving bad tips. Gratuities are particularly scant for workers in nail salons and spas, the survey found, noting 24 per cent of Canadians never leave a tip for these services. "When it comes to manicures, pedicures, facials and waxing, Canadians are not very generous," the report said. "Only 34 per cent of Canadians are tipping the standard 15 per cent, with 55 to 65 year olds doing most of the tipping."

Some hair stylists are cut out completely – 12 per cent of clients leave no tip at all. Nancy Marescotti, director of the bank’s Mosaik MasterCard program, said some people don’t tip because they didn’t plan ahead or just don’t know how much to leave. Fifteen per cent of the pre-tax bill is the general rule of thumb, she said, adding most people don’t mean to be cheap.

"Canadians generally don’t know who they should be tipping," Marescotti said. "It becomes a socially awkward situation …" The Bank of Montreal survey was conducted by Leger Marketing using a sample of 1,501 adults between Nov. 23 and Dec. 3, 2006. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Its findings differ from those of another survey released earlier this month. That study, conducted by market research firm Synovate, suggested that Canadians were among the world’s most likely and biggest tippers. It found that 97 per cent of Canadians regularly tip and almost one-third tip wait staff between 15 and 20 per cent. Seventy-seven per cent tip their hairstylists.

That survey, which included more than 6,800 respondents in 10 countries, found that Canucks were about as likely to tip as Americans (98 per cent), followed by the British (84 per cent), while only 59 per cent of Brazilians and 31 per cent of Indonesians usually reward good service with a gratuity. "We’re definitely not cheap," said Rob Myers, a managing director at Synovate. "We’re lower tippers, on average, than Americans. But in terms of the world, we are one of the countries that tip the most."

Nancy Coelho, co-owner of If Lounge, a neighbourhood hot spot on Dundas Street West, agreed that while most of her regular customers and tourists are fair tippers, there is always the odd client who leaves chump change. "That’s your livelihood, your tip money," said Coelho. "If you are not making any tips, you are not making any money." Her worst experience was when someone left her a penny. But she’s also been surprised by people’s generosity. Kristen Gale, owner of Ten Spot Nail Bar in Toronto on trendy Queen St. West, said tipping outside of restaurants is unfamiliar to some people. Clients often tip 5 to 10 per cent and sometimes not at all.

"It really should be 15 per cent," she said. "In actual fact, someone who is working on your calluses and scrubbing your feet is actually working a lot harder than someone who is fetching your drink." Perhaps consumer confusion stems from the fact that tipping standards vary around the world. In some European and South American countries, the gratuities are included in the final bill. In Argentina, tipping is technically illegal, whereas in Japan, it is considered offensive. In Thailand and New Zealand, tips are simply not expected.

Tipping guidelines also differ across the United States. In 2001, New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs developed tipping recommendations for a wide range of service workers, but the agency was unable to confirm yesterday if those standards were still in use. There are also a plethora of handy online tip calculators such www.tipping.org, but there appear to be no hard and fast rules.